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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29925654">A Heart that Beats</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LialeeEderian/pseuds/LialeeEderian'>LialeeEderian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:35:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,059</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29925654</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LialeeEderian/pseuds/LialeeEderian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Petunia Evans has a heart.</p><p>Or</p><p>Petunia Evans hated Harry, but he was still a child. A baby. And that made all the difference.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dudley Dursley &amp; Harry Potter, Dudley Dursley &amp; Petunia Evans Dursley, Petunia Evans Dursley &amp; Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>93</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Heart that Beats</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warning - Not so canon Petunia. Definitely not canon Dudley. Probably not canon Harry? Vernon and Marge are definitely canon, I think.<br/>Probably a lot of grammatical errors too. I wrote this now, wasting an hour of study time when i have liek twenty things to do and university is bloody stressing me out.<br/>Ugh.<br/>Anyway, enjoy. Maybe point out grammatical errors if you want to, because i'm not reading this again until maybe way later. Too much work, damn it. Who said humanities was easy? Becasue it's not.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p>Petunia hated Harry. Of that there was no doubt.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Harry was the utter reminder of everything she loathed in life - her sister.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her sister, the perfect. Her sister, the favorite. Her sister, <em>the witch. </em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>He was a reminder of her world, her unnatural world that hadn't let her in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Not that she wanted to be let in anymore. She'd grown a brain.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They hadn't.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She doubted they ever would.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Magic? Magic was unnatural, unneeded. After all, there was a reason people had burned witches all those years ago, wasn't there?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ha! And her parents had thought Lily was good.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Lily was a witch, and by definition, she wasn't good. She was unnatural. Unnecessary. Unneeded.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Just like her son.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>... But she had still been her sister.</p>
  <p>Harry was still her nephew.</p>
  <p>And much more importantly, Harry was a child. A one-year-old baby, just like her Dudley.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A baby, and Vernon had tried to hurt him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia grew cold.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There was not a lot she stood up for. She let Vernon do as he pleased, treat Dudley as he wished, spoiling him and loving him - she loved to spoil her little tyke too.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She let him mow over her decisions, let him demand her into a role she slipped seamlessly into, the gossiping housewife of the successful businessman.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She stepped back and watched her life, their life, walk on, and she did nothing to change anything.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But then Vernon raised a hand against Harry, and Petunia woke up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It wouldn't have been a harsh slap. Just a warning nudge, really.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>For an adult.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>For a little boy of one, it was probably a punch to the nose.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Harry burst out crying, and Petunia's eyes blazed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She hated Harry and there was no doubt in that, but she also knew the little boy to be exactly that - a little boy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>So she walked forward, calmed the boy down with an awkward pat, ignored his sparkling green eyes that were much too much like her<em> sister's, </em>and stepped away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>From Vernon, from Privet Drive, from her passivity in the face of her life.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She stepped away, packed her bags, grabbed her son and her nephew, and she left.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Vernon blustered, of course. Marge railed and said she'd told Vernon this bitch was moronic.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But divorce was the easiest way out for all of them, especially when Petunia showed Vernon the proof of his abuse of Harry. His one abuse, but his life's downfall.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>... If he didn't stop.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Vernon was a greedy, driven man. For the sake of his job, he did.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The court granted him only monthly visits for Dudley.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Nothing was said about Harry.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>No one wanted to say anything about Harry.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia found herself in the country. It was far less expensive than London, and there were more jobs, too. She rented out an apartment, dipped into the funds set up for her by Lily (oh, how she hated to use that money. Who knew how that witch had gotten her hands on it. But what else was she to do? She had nothing), hired a babysitter, and went job hunting.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She found herself a lucky position as a manager of a cafe. With her qualifications from university (who knew a degree in economics would come in handy for more than meeting her husband? <em>Ex</em>-husband), they hired her straightaway, and with years of experience of what housewives tended to gravitate towards, Petunia began to fashion this little diner into an exclusive hangout for her kind. Her old kind.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The cafe was not very well-known, and there were ups and downs, but she had a stable job, and she could stop using the money from her sister's account.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia considered that a win.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dudley was finicky the first half year, especially after he came back from Vernon's every month. Vernon loved to spoil him, tried to poison him towards his mother (though that was mainly Marge's job), and Petunia no longer could spoil him. Not with the income she was making.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>No, Dudley had to learn to acclimate. It was a good thing he was young and <em>could</em> acclimate.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so he did. A year later, at two years old, Dudley was bright, bubbling, and happy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Not even Vernon's visits messed him up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Well, not overly.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Harry was quiet. Not as fussy as Dudley, not as clingy as Dudley, not as spoiled as Dudley.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>With no more Vernon raising a hand against him, the little boy didn't cry as much.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He did, however, use his unnatural magic.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia pretended to ignore the flying toy.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She still hated him. Him and his green eyes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Years passed. The boys grew up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia enrolled them in the public school round the corner.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Vernon called just to argue. Dudley, he said, should go to a private school. One with money and skill and talent. The one he went to.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia remembered him raising a hand against a little child - never mind it was Harry - and grew cold at the thought. She hung the phone and instantly enrolled her child and Harry into school, paying the fees for the first term.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Vernon could do nothing.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dudley was just a touch slow. He sometimes couldn't keep up in class, and bore the brunt of some bullies running to make fun of him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia wanted to storm the school and rage at the administration. How dare they mismanage her beautiful boy's school life?!</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But before she could, before she could do anything, really, she saw Harry sneak to Dudley's room, a science textbook in hand, and the whole night through, she heard him whisper.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She heard them whisper.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dudley never came to her again for help with studies, because Harry was there to help him</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Except math, because Harry was bad at that too.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And then Dudley tried so hard, he became better with numbers - all so he could help Harry. Harry, who didn't come to her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Why would he? She never let him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia refused to feel bad. She took one look at his emerald eyes and her heart hardened again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was a good thing Dudley was getting better at studies, she decided, and she ignored Harry's role in the entire thing.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>When they started growing up, Petunia cleared out the store in their apartment and squeezed a bed inside to make a room for Harry. It was half the size of their old room, of now-only-Dudley's room, but it was Harry's own room, and Harry beamed at Petunia so hard, she had to look away from his smile.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>From her sister's smile.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dudley beamed even more, and she soaked that in like a sponge.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That year, he started coming back from Vernon's with an ever growing glare, and a small frown at Harry.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Harry noticed. Of course he did. He was an oblivious child sometimes, but in most cases, he noticed, even if he chose to ignore.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia fretted, but a suddenly increasing popularity at her cafe had her busier than ever.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It turned out, though, that with a few punches she had to patch up, and a warning from their school, the two boys had managed to patch things up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia could imagine what the problem had been, knowing Vernon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And if she chose to scold Harry a little longer than she did Dudley... Well, she'd never said she was perfect.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>At nine, Dudley ended up getting into martial arts, and was invited to a summer camp to build up his talent.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Harry finally told her about the advanced studies camp he had been invited to for the past two years. He'd hidden it, before, and she'd pretended not to see it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But because she was letting Dudley go, Petunia thought, she had to let him go too.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>After all, it had been because of Dudley Harry even ended up studying a lot.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>That summer was quiet. The house was empty. There were no laughs, no jokes, no mess on the dinner table.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia cried the first night in.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She didn't cry after that.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The two returned after one month and fifteen days.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dudley swept her into a hug and Harry watched from the back, his hands clenched and his eyes wanting.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia pretended not to notice.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It turned out, Dudley had loved his camp.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Harry had not. It had been full of studious kids, he explained. I like studying, but I don't love studying (I like studying so I can pass and help Dudley pass was left unsaid.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia could understand.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dudley brightened and asked if Harry would like to start Martial arts with him, then.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia shrugged. What was the harm?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Harry reddened and agreed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Next year, the two went to martial arts camp together, and the two returned together too. Petunia still didn't hug Harry.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>There was magic through the years.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Calling his toys as a baby, vanishing spilled milk and food. Petunia had often gotten mad at his mess, and then gotten mad that he magicked it away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But she never scolded him. She ignored him instead, wishing the magic would go away if she pretended it didn't exist.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It did not.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But it did grow weaker, less potent, and that was all Petunia could ask for.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A glass that didn't break upon falling, a science project that made itself in the night, math homework that completed on its own (but with the wrong answers, mind you. She had to correct them before Harry left that one morning).</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Small things.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Until they weren't.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>At six years old, Dudley was pushed around by stupid school children and Harry's magic burst. Miles away, at her cafe, the ground trembled and things exploded.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>People said it was particularly vicious earthquake.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>From the way Harry shook and Dudley stared at him in awe, Petunia knew it was magic.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She didn't explain and Harry didn't ask.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(She could hear her two children up at night, talking about magic and thinking up ways to make it work. She never tried to stop them. Her children. Her child and Harry.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>In 1991, Petunia Evans waited for the envelope to arrive. She took it from a pile on the table and handed it to Harry with baited breath.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He read it once, twice, three times.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And then he ran off to show it to Dudley.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dudley was almost as happy as Harry was, but Petunia's fears were unfounded. Dudley knew he didn't have magic but he was excited for his cousin anyway.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>This, Petunia realized was what she should have been like.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But she wasn't.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>They penned a reply to Hogwarts, tied it to the barn owl hanging around their garden, and drove off to Diagon Alley.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia had been there, once.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was even more magical now.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Everyone stared at her nephew as they entered, but she bought him a hat, glared at the onlookers, and they waddled on without pause.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A visit to the bank with those unnatural goblins revealed gold in Harry's name.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He tried to give some to her, to Dudley, but she refused. She would not touch their money. Not yet.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Not money that didn't belong to her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They bought Harry a set of the oddest books, some introductory manuals that the shop keeper recommended, and a stack of what seems to be stories. Fairy tales. For Dudley, the last ones, because he wanted magic of his own.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia couldn't refuse.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They got Harry a cauldron, a set of potion ingredients, robes, so many things...</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They got him a wand.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And then they got him a snowy owl to write them letters with.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Petunia couldn't refuse.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was Harry's own money, after all.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Not her's.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>On the first of September, they walked to platform nine and ten, and followed a red headed family through a seemingly solid pillar. Dudley had the best of times. Petunia still shuddered.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Minutes away from the train leaving, Petunia placed a hand on Harry shoulder and squeezed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was not quite a hug. It would probably never be a hug.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Harry turned and beamed so brightly, Petunia would swear she saw Lily in his eyes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><hr/><p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p>Petunia Evans had a heart. It was small, and struggling, and harder to penetrate than a lot of things in the known world, but it was a heart, and it was <em>her</em> heart.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>And in this life, Harry could hear it beat.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
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